


Tainted Bloodlines

by Writerperson78



Category: King of Fighters
Genre: Character Development, Comfort/Angst, Cuddling, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, MINOR DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:03:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerperson78/pseuds/Writerperson78
Summary: Brief oneshot; taking place between chapters 4 and 5 of Etudé of Revolution-R2.Dark dreams, fractured sleep, and an inability to understand what is happening; Adelheid Bernstein has been trying to come to grips the the bloody rampage he went on that left six dead and him nearly taking the life of the first person he truly cared for. He knew what was *in* his blood, but was otherwise at a loss, until Whip gently pushed her way in.
Relationships: Adelheid Bernstein/Seirah | Whip





	Tainted Bloodlines

**Author's Note:**

> This piece takes place in between Chapters 4 and 5 of Etude of Revolution-R2(which is a six-chapter story). It’s a one-shot that I decided to do that described some of the more immediate aftermath of Adel’s complete berserk bloody murder rampage/almost complete loss of control. 
> 
> You MAY want to read that fic first, but for a crib note version, Adel can be driven berserk by Rose’s piano, and Rose-now quite under the influence from Botan/Those from the Past, did so. He killed several attackers, and nearly killed Whip, but she was able to snap him out of it. He basically broke down in a huge way after, as one might guess. At this point, they are maybe only about 4-5 weeks or so into their relationship. 
> 
> This is definitely hurt/comfort.

_Five in the morning._

Whip was used to early mornings, thanks to the military; but she felt she woke up for other reasons. Peeking out the hotel window-she was put up in a nice room for business here, as were the rest of her team-she saw the sky was a dusky, dark blue; given it was August, she knew the sun would be rising in about an hour. 

Rubbing her neck-the bruises there sort of an angry color, though healing nicely-she noticed Adelheid was no longer in the bed. 

Looking around the room-still dark, though with one soft light in the bathroom on-she saw a faint shadow outside, sitting on the balcony. Her and the rest of the team had rather large and spacious rooms on the government's dime when they were overseas on duty.

She sighed. 

The past week had been...harsh. Incredibly harsh. After Adelheid’s horrible rampage-driven past the brink of murderous insanity by his sister’s strange, demonic music boiling the tainted blood that his father had passed on inside of him-he had all but withdrawn. He ate, and he trained-he trained an incredible amount, going out to the field near the Sky Noah-but not going inside, since he did not want to present himself around his sister again yet-and would absolutely destroy various rocks and trees in his training. She had seen him leave craters in the ground under his heel that should not have been able to be made by any man. 

He would _try_ to sleep, but that would get broken up by terrible nightmares more often than not. 

They would spend time together, though. They still held each other close, sleeping in the same bed. He would often go to sleep spooning her, his face buried in her hair, trying to reach some sort of comfort that it felt like would not come.

But then he would see her neck and look away, no matter how many times she would try to bring him back over. His intelligent red eyes-which she always knew the past month to have lit up when he would see her-were often dull, plagued with guilt and uncertainty. 

She would see them rimmed with red sometimes, and it was not always from lack of sleep. Her heart would ache to see it, since he would go off on his own. He did not fear touching her-they still touched, caressed, and kissed-but he was more distant, seemingly wrestling with the taint that he knew lurked inside of himself.

Sliding her legs out of the bed-the air conditioning was on full, as the August heat in Vienna could be quite harsh-she considered getting some clothes on. She wore her shorts and a tank top to bed, and decided didn’t mind sitting on the balcony with those. 

Whip tried _so_ hard to keep pushing him out of his shell, but she could tell he was terrified of the power in him, and horrified at what he had done, even if he had absolutely no control over it at the time. He was afraid it would take him again. 

She knew what could happen when someone was lost to tainted blood, and she did not blame him for it. But the fact he had snapped _out_ of it was something. 

Walking across the soft carpet, she slid the door open; the warm air hit her almost at a blast. 

Adelheid was sitting on the padded bench, a small light on the table in front. He wore only the boxers that he slept in. One of his large legs was propped up on the table, and his arms were folded across his chest. Some of the bandages he had acquired from his injuries that night were off, but the wounds were still healing. He still had the larger one around his torso, caused by the knife wound of one of the attackers. 

“Woke up early?” he asked, looking up at her. He managed a sad smirk. 

“Yeah,” Whip replied, going to sit close next to him. She quietly leaned her head into him as he slid an arm around her. She sighed when he kissed her head. After a few moments, she looked up. “What happened?” 

He leaned back and sighed, rubbing his eyes. “The dream again. It...I…” he looked off to the side. 

“What _is_ it?” she asked, brushing back some of his hair and trying to turn his head toward her. “Do you dream of that night again?”

He let her turn his head. “I...yes,” he said, still not looking at her. “But...I go all the way,” he managed to say, his voice cracking. 

She knew what he meant. Absently touching her neck, she looked back at him, noticing that he saw her do it. 

His lip started to quiver at that. The dream was _so_ fresh in his mind, her limp body being dropped at his feet, into the pool of blood he stood in from that night’s slaughter, from the attackers whose heads he had caved in. 

“Adel…” she started, her voice soft. She knew when he would start to get like this, he would leave to be on his own to break down. She had heard him in the hotel’s bathroom one night, though she decided to say nothing, letting him be, since she knew sometimes everyone needed time alone. He had broken down in front of her before-the very night of the horror-but it was somehow different. It had just happened; everything was still raw. 

But afterward, he would go off to be by himself-she didn’t know if it was out of shame, guilt, or what, but her heart broke when she saw it. 

This time, she placed her hands on the side of his face. “I told you, I would stay by you,” she said firmly. “You don’t have to hide from me.” She then placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Adelheid blinked; soon after, she could feel the first tear hitting her hand. 

Then another. 

It did not take long for him to finally break down, sobbing against her neck as he clung to her. She slid her arms around his large torso as he leaned his head into her shoulder, nearly shaking like he was that first night. Her hands gently smoothed down his hair as she let him get it all out, finally, on her. 

“Seirah…” he managed to mutter, gulping. His tears continued to fall unabated. All he could think about was that dream right now, and it killed him inside. He just wanted to hold her, to keep her safe. He knew she could take care of herself; but he still wanted to keep her safe. 

_But how can I, if I can snap at a moment’s notice, killing people as easily as a lion kills a rabbit?_

“It’s okay,” she said softly, kissing his ear as he cried into her shoulder. “Let it out, hon. Please.” She choked back her own tears. She felt like _she_ was letting him suffer alone, not having pushed him harder to begin with. One hand brushed over one of the healing wounds on his shoulder. 

“It always feels like it’s... _there_ , waiting,” he said, sniffing. “It taunts me. Tells me how I was born with it. Asking me why I don’t let it out.” He shut his eyes, more tears falling on Whip as she stroked his hair. He opened them again, looking at her neck a moment. “That’s why,” he said. He leaned forward for a moment to kiss the marks he made; in some desperate attempt to maybe get them to heal faster, to disappear. “It’ll destroy everything.” He kissed them again, coughing once. 

“Adel,” she said softly, her own tears falling now. “You’re stronger than any bad blood inside of you. I know you are.” She stroked his hair as he nuzzled the crook of her neck, his arms wrapped around her waist. “The way you treat me. Your touch,” she said, kissing the top of his head. “Before you, I’ve never even been held like that. I’ve never...thought about it.” She kissed his head again, reaching her hand up to brush away some of his tears as he kept his head near her, occasionally kissing at one of the marks. 

“How can you feel safe around me?” he asked. 

“Because I got through to you. I know...that was not you.”

“What if it happens again?” he sniffled. He shivered at that thought. 

“Then I’ll get through to you again,” she said, with no fear in her voice. “And I’ll help you confront it, again.” She continued to stroke his soft hair, her cheek resting on his head. 

“How are you less afraid of this than I am?” he asked, coughing again. His tears had slowed, though they still fell. 

Whip shed another of her own. “Because I can’t leave you like this,” she said. “And I can’t think of being alone again. Or leaving you alone.” 

At that, Adelheid felt he was going to run _out_ of tears. He didn’t _want_ her to leave. The past five or so weeks had been some of the happiest of his life; a life that had been marred by his father and all the baggage the man brought with him. 

Kissing one of the marks on her neck again, he started to sit up; this time, pressing his forehead to hers. He would do this to her often, ever since they had started truly dating, and she always liked it. He then kissed her under her eye; the salty taste of her own tears in his mouth tugging at his heart again. 

“I believed you when you said you would stay before,” he said, sniffling once. “I just...didn’t want…” he trailed off.

She cradled his head in her hands, brushing away the rest of his tears; she noticed he had finally stopped. “Whatever it takes,” Whip said softly, kissing him on the mouth gently. He returned it; the kiss lingered a few moments. She knew what it was like to feel truly alone, and right now-after his sister had grown distant, and him insisting on withdrawing-she had an idea of what he may have been going through, albeit for different reasons. 

He sniffled again, rubbing his eyes a moment before scratching the back of his head. He looked down at her hands, which she slid into his. His thumb traced over them slowly as he sat. He had noticed before they held a couple of small scars; no doubt acquired in one of her battles. His own had them too. He took one and kissed it, rubbing it against his face a moment before looking out over the city again; they were fairly high up. The sky had grown lighter yet during their time outside. 

“Want to go in?” he asked. 

“Yeah...I like the air.” She smiled softly. 

Standing, she held his hand as they went inside; she wandered over to the large and soft couch that was in her room. The air conditioning felt nice after being out in the humid night air. They had already pulled the curtains shut, so the room would stay dim. 

Whip sat and leaned against the couch’s corner for a moment and held her arms open. “Come here,” she said. 

Adelheid did just that; he leaned his head against her chest as she wrapped her arms around him. 

“You’re usually the one who does this, I know,” she said as he positioned his legs up on it, sliding his other arm over her as she started to stroke his hair. 

“I know,” he said softly, simply resting there for awhile before he continued. “I...was never afraid of it before. I knew I wasn’t going to...It was set off by the music. The bad ones. The other times it only came out if our lives were in danger, and not to that extent.” He sighed. “Even though I killed people who I didn’t want to under it...I...never attacked anyone I _cared_ about.” His hand stroked her arm. “Now... _now_ I’m afraid of it. I...also never cared about anyone like this. Family, yes...but…” he buried his face in her chest, exhaling. 

Whip kissed the top of his head several times as she held him there. “Well...think of this. I...know what happened that night in the alley. Heidern had told me.” She stroked a bit of his hair to the side. “He...mentioned that you were...distant. But you did not attack him.”

He nodded. “I...felt...cold. I knew I wanted him dead. The man who attacked. But I recognized Heidern.” 

She smiled sadly. “You already seem to have... _some_ handle on it, then.”

Adel nuzzled back into her chest. “It’s just...the…” He trailed off. “When it goes all the way.”

“We’ll get through it,” Whip replied, caressing his face; the same words she thought that night. She watched him look up at her again, sliding up to kiss one of the marks on her neck again. At that, she turned to meet him in a full on kiss; it deepened and lingered for a long time.

When it broke, he rest his head on her chest again as she held him there, quietly stroking him. He said nothing at the time; mostly he was mulling over some thoughts in his head. How he was, sometimes, able to handle the situation, but other times, he could not. He knew the taint had an...otherworldly origin, and he did not know how to even remotely begin to handle that, especially if the music started. 

He looked up at her again for a moment, nuzzling her neck again as he shut his eyes. She watched him start to sleep right there on her chest as she stroked him. 

_Stay as long as you want, Adel. You don't have to hide anymore._

**Author's Note:**

> I did a bit of research. While we’re broad daylight by 5 am in August, Vienna’s sunrise is around 6 am around that time, thus they’d have that sort of dusky, pre-dawn sky. 
> 
> Adelheid knew deep down that he couldn’t run forever from his dark blood. In this case, pushing it down and ignoring it caused it to fester more and more, enabling others to take advantage of it. It was probably not much different with his sister-while hers manifested differently-through her music and her ability to be quite good at manipulation by the look-she never thought much of it until first probably her dad’s secretaries-and later, Those from the Past-were able to take advantage...and then down the line. 
> 
> As he slaughtered more under his dark, berserk rages, he would continue to push it down after, refusing to look at it. 
> 
> It has now come time for him to attempt to maybe come to terms of it...and maybe gain a semblance of control. 
> 
> Whip in no way was going to let him go through it alone. Despite only having been together for maybe five or so weeks by this point in the story, they had never had that sort of closeness with a person in their lives, like, ever. It was also a point where it became clear the two can give a lot of comfort to one another.


End file.
